“Original sin” is a lie. Jesus, a deeply profound teacher of Love and Unity, never said a thing about “original sin”. It’s a doctrine invented by Augustine of Hippo over three hundred years later.
While there are certainly issues within institutional religion, upon textual examination and spiritual contemplation; there are also beautiful, enduring teachings of collective harmony and inner transformation. Underneath layers of ego, the real message shines through.
“Truth is One,
The sages call it by many names.”
—Rig Veda
In this book, author Bob Peck takes us through his own highlights of the “spiritual buffet line”: from present-embracing Zen Buddhists to insightful Indigenous shamans and compassionate karma yogis. He explores the Avatar doctrine of the Bhagavad Gita, the Work of Byron Katie, new science in relation to spirit, and the true loving message of Jesus.
As Peck articulates, the Bible is not infallible, but in certain moments it does point to the Reality of Who We Are; as does Sri Ramana Maharshi, Carl Jung, Anandamayi Ma, the Gospel of Thomas, and A Course in Miracles.
From psychedelics to ‘the illusion’, to Peck’s own learnings along the way, Original Sin Is A Lie is here to point us to a rich spectrum of mystic wisdom across the spiritual traditions and ultimately help us uncover our True Nature. What else is there to do?
Bob Peck is a festival award-winning filmmaker, author, lawnmower, meditator, and a spiritual student of Christ, Krishna, the Buddha, and Paramahansa Yogananda. With bachelor’s degrees in Religious Studies & Radio-TV-Film from the University of Texas, he has made ‘conscious films’—spiritual & advocacy documentaries—since graduating in 2011. He’s also a Kriya Yoga practitioner through KYI and a certified mindfulness & meditation teacher. His day job is centered around ads and mindfulness in Big Tech. A native Austinite, he lives with his wife and young son in Austin, Texas.
Goodness. This book. It’s like Bob somehow through the collective cosmic consciousness mew exactly what I’d been trying to flesh out for so long.
This book is rich with wit, knowledge and a lasting peace that will bring anyone who considers themselves perennial/mystic/or source seeker.
The information is provided in such a unique way through personal experience and many writings of the teacher taught about.
It is genuinely a book of love, to those that might be afraid that it’s a “shit on” all things not woke, be sure that is the furthest from the truth. It is a beautiful blend of the many truths out there.
As stated in the book mystics believe the truth cannot be stated, but Bob sure does one hell of a job giving but the thimbleful of his experience and it shines.
Namaste, Bob. I hope to connect one day, in this incarnation or the next.
Not able to rate yet as I'm not done. But I see this book is going to take me a bit... But I want to acknowledge what this book is seeming to do in/for me (even though I've yet a lot more to go) as I feel it very well may be a pivotal point for me and my beliefs???
I was raised in and fully embraced western Christian religion and doctrines, I was born into it, and thrived in it for most of my life. Until... I began questioning small things, which over years became really BIG things. In short, making me leave it all behind. I packed up all my long held beliefs and books and choose to see what else was out there.
In that long and slow process, I have met and read and accepted so many wonderful people and ideas and beautiful practices I now choose to incorporate into myself and my daily life.
But due to my past, I just couldn't bridge the past me with the present Me. They seemed polar opposites. Oxymoron. What this book is seeming to do to me is show me how the Teacher (Christ) of my past meets the Teachers (to many to list) of my present. Bringing the true - though buried by many hands - message back to the surface.
I can see how I am beginning to be able to re-accept the "Christ-message" for what it and he was, not what men have made it.
Love. Acceptance. Unity. Transcendence. Internal peace that begets external. This is a Christ I can accept. And NOT as a savior who needs to save me. Rather a man with a message that all great and enlightened humans have been trying to share: love.
Love is the most powerful energy. The true Kingdom. Life's only answer.
I can't commit to agreeing with all his book, but I can say it IS opening an old door, for a new look inside. Bridging pieces of me together for a remodel. Being one more pillar for my more structurally sound Self.
Bob is an excellent author and I found this book to be informative, fun & incredibly rewarding to read. In this, Bob explores our relationship with religion & spirituality through novel lenses that I’ve never read before. He delicately threads the needle between history, religious studies, spirituality, comparative myth & mysticism all while ensuring his primary thesis still remains in focus: the path to enlightenment lies within us all and our individual relationship with that path is all that matters. As an atheist, I would definitely recommend reading this to fellow non-believers, believers and everyone in between!
Hey not to be dramatic, but uhhh… this book (and Bob) changed the course of my life!
I grew up in a religious cult and pendulum swung straight into devout atheism. Every page of this book began healing my religious trauma and helped me to no longer be repulsed by the Bible or Jesus. I realized all the parts of the Bible that turned me off weren’t even historically accurate anyways, and the parts that DID resonate were the ones that were. His take on “Churchianity” is great.
After that came the spiritual buffet which was 🤌🏻 chef’s kiss. In the cult I wasn’t allowed to learn about any other religions so I really went into this completely blind - so if that’s you you’re in luck! What struck me the most was how every major religion is essentially conveying the same message, just in a different form. I never understood integral spirituality or how people could be interested in so many different spiritual paths because I always assumed them to be so wildly different, but I can totally see it now. I don’t think there’s many other places where you’ll see selections of various holy books all referenced in a way that shows the underlying message they all share. I have such a respect now for other spiritual paths that I didn’t before.
If you’re looking for a more scientific take to prove the existence of God altogether, Bob does touch on this but also makes clear that’s not the *main* point of his book, and includes a list of several books and resources that do elaborate on this.
Great IG content at @originalsinisalie! The memes he posts are 10/10 too so you really can’t lose. He also was a guest on the 11/21/23 episode of Back from the Borderline which is firrrrre if you’re into pods! (Also the 10/19/23 ep of Third Eye Drops!)
The only people I can imagine not liking this book are those who consider anything that falls outside their belief system heresy. I’ll continue wishing them a more open mind because this book is a gem just waiting for them!
I have this in every format and they’re all great. Hardback is nice for obvious reasons but the glossy cover on the paperback is glorious. I got it on Kindle originally which was fantastic but couldn’t resist a paper copy for the cover. (Eventually figured I should complete the fam and got the Audible which Bob narrates and it’s really great as well, especially considering I absolutely could not pronounce a lot of this without Googling, so boom!)
This book sent me down the most phenomenal path and I’ll recommend it to everyone forever ✨
Half of me wanted to rate this book 3 stars, and the other half wanted to rate it 5 stars, so I split the difference at 4.
I'll start with the 3 star half. It's very simple: there are grammar mistakes and writing faux pas aplenty. However, these "misses of the mark" (pp. 312 - 13) are not egregious enough to dilute the message of the book.
Now for the 5 star half. First, this is an excellent introduction to comparative religion. I have been wanting to do some reading on the topic for a while, and this well-cited and -researched book did a great job of introducing major topics, themes, and theories while also making its own point. I have a complex trauma background with religion, which meant I found this book challenging but ultimately rewarding and uplifting.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in comparative religion, spirituality, and spiritual self-help. I look forward to reading more from this author!
Bold, generous, and disarmingly practical,Original Sin Is a Lie is the rare deconstruction that leaves you lighter, not cynical. Bob Peck and Scott Standley take aim at the doctrine that “if we believe we are originally sinful, we have no love for ourselves,” and make a forceful, humane case that fear-based theology has smothered the very spirituality that birthed religion in the first place. The book’s thesis is simple: move from fear to Love, not as a slogan but as a lived, testable path.
Peck and Standley earn credibility by marrying accessible scholarship with spiritual clarity. Their “vertical reading” of the Gospels reveals just how distinct the accounts truly are and why later polemics(notably in Matthew) shouldn’t be weaponized to justify division or worse. The fig tree episode often ridiculed becomes a lucid symbol: Jesus cursing not a plant but a paradigm, clearing space for inclusion, compassion, and transcendence. They also puncture the supposed biblical basis for original sin with a clean, bracing question: if Genesis is the source, why is the doctrine absent in Judaism and the Gospels? The answer, they argue, is a Pauline misread later hardened by Augustine. That’s not academic nitpicking; it’s a jailbreak for the moral imagination.
The book’s second engine is its perennial vision. Without hand-waving syncretism, the authors line up a chorus—Yogananda, Ramakrishna, Laozi, the Buddha, Meister Eckhart, the Tao Te Ching, the Gita, the Gospel of Thomas to show a stubborn throughline: the kingdom of God is within; gnosis is interior; liberation is here, now, available. The result isn’t “anything goes,” but “many paths, one summit.” Ram Dass’s “How can I help?” and the Bodhisattva Vow shift the conversation from belief-policing to service. Krishna reframes motivation(“your right is to the action, not the fruits”), while Zen reduces spiritual posturing to the practice of presence. You come away with a toolkit, not just a take.
Importantly, the authors don’t dodge the psyche. Jung’s shadow work, Hafez’s “madman,” Byron Katie’s cognitive clarityall land as pragmatic methods for unlearning fear. “The evaporation of fear makes way for the True” could be the book’s north star. Even their quick tour through science and philosophy is purposeful: they’re not anti-science; they’re anti-reductionism. Reality, they insist, is too large for one lens. That humility gives their confidence teeth.
What makes this book sing is tone. It’s frank without being combative, anchored without being rigid. The line “I didn’t leave Christ” after disillusion with Christianity is the emotional key faith unhitched from institutional shame, re-rooted in the direct experience of Love. By the time you hit Advaita’s satchitananda and Ramana’s “Be still,” the thesis has matured: we are not defects to be repaired but awareness to be remembered. Practice stillness, meditation, service doesn’t purchase worthiness; it uncovers it.
If you’ve ever felt spiritually gaslit commanded to love your neighbor while being told you’re fundamentally unlovable this book is a hand on your shoulder and a map in your palm. Peck and Standley restore Jesus to a teacher of liberation, place him alongside the world’s great mystics, and invite you into the work: bring forth what is within you, and it will save you. High praise, fully earned.
Enjoyed the premise and the book. Found myself going slower through the later parts where the author delves deeper into eastern spirituality - felt a bit disconnected from the beginning. Still enjoyed it regardless.
I cannot say enough how this book is going to be the beginning of huge discoveries for me. It was the dip of a toe into the waters of enlightenment that I have been seeking my whole life.
Book Review: Original Sin Is A Lie: How Spirituality Defies Dogma and Reveals Our True Self
by Bob Peck
Rating:5/5
Review:
👉In Original Sin Is A Lie, Bob Peck masterfully challenges the conventional ideas we often associate with religion, bringing forward a fresh, inclusive perspective on spirituality. 🌌 Peck’s journey through the “spiritual buffet line” takes readers on an exploration of Zen Buddhism, Indigenous wisdom, karma yoga, and the mystical teachings of the Bhagavad Gita. His writing reflects a deep reverence for the teachings of spiritual figures like Sri Ramana Maharshi, Carl Jung, Anandamayi Ma, and even Jesus—reminding us that the core of all spiritual traditions points to a universal truth within us all. 😍🔥💫
👉Peck’s belief that the Bible, while not infallible, reveals glimpses of a divine reality helps readers view religious texts with open eyes and hearts. Peck discusses how dogma often clouds the true purpose of these teachings and instead introduces us to figures like Byron Katie, along with new scientific perspectives, as ways of finding deeper spiritual understanding and love. His approach is not only illuminating but empowering, encouraging readers to seek their own truths beyond rigid doctrines.
👉One of the most striking aspects of Original Sin Is A Lie is how it connects the dots between seemingly disparate teachings to reveal a unifying message of love and self-discovery. From his insights into psychedelics to the profound impact of the “illusion” concept, Peck draws readers into an exploration of the self and spirit that’s easy to grasp but deeply transformative. This book feels like a guide, showing us how different traditions all share one goal: to help us find our true selves and understand that the divine has been within us all along. 💝🔥
👉For anyone beginning their spiritual journey or already deep in their search, this book is a must-read. It provides not only a wealth of knowledge but also a sense of relief—relief from the confines of traditional dogma, and a warm embrace of love that transcends labels.
Bob Peck is the teacher we didn't know we needed, bringing us into the next phase of truth, and this books helps us to connect with our true nature. Bob does the spiritual donkey work for us here, and the work gone into this book is so evident on every page, comparing the ancient texts and the spiritual sages down through the ages. Bob looks at what they said and didn't say, in a very digestible way, bypassing bible study for us who are really in the ancient wisdom texts and bibles that we haven't studied (thanks Bob).
This makes this book an important book right now. A modern day universal bible that everyone and anyone can relate to, regardless of beliefs.
A good read for those of us looking for the explanation of the universal truth that they innatley know to be true. This is it.
The reading of “the prodigal son” in this book brought me to TEARS as it reawakened my old Christian “love for God” with a fresh perspective given my deconstruction & current mystical beliefs. The story had me weeping in deep appreciation for being loved by the Creator & revitalized my devotion.
What an excellent amalgamation of spiritual doctrine & mystical experience. A truly holistic representation of our divine nature: we are Love.
Recommend to those whom grew up in the Christian faith who’ve turned away from Christ due to the atrocious misinterpretations of the Bible by institutional Christianity or are just struggling to really believe certain teachings. This book validates what I’ve felt for many years. I wish I had this five years ago.
Very helpful summary of many of the world’s mystic philosophies. Peck is HILARIOUS. I recommend this book especially to anyone who has deconstructed their Christian identity and still wants to be a student of Christ, among other spiritual traditions.